BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AND OTHER NON-FICTION

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem Black Profiles in Courage. Stories about inspirational people in history who acted with integrity, discipline, and self-respect.

Alexander, Sandra Famous Native Americans in U.S. History. Short biographies of important Native Americans.

Altman, Linda J. Forever Outsiders. Description of the Holocaust using primary sources.

Auerbacher, Inge I Am a Star. Description of a child’s hardships living in a concentration camp for three years.

Ballard, Robert D.  Exploring the Titanic. Description of the large luxury liner which sank in 1912 as well as the discovery and exploration of its underwater wreckage.

Borden, Louise Fly High! Biography of the first African-American woman aviator.

Bruchac, Joseph Lasting Echoes. History of Native Americans, with excerpts from accounts of their experiences.

Cleary, Beverly  Girl from Yamhill. Autobiography that tells of what it was like growing up with an interest in writing.

Cole, Sheila Growing Up in America. Description of the lives of different boys and girls.

Coolidge, Olivia E. Gandhi. A biography of the Mahatma Ghandi, the great Indian leader.

Coolidge, Olivia  E. The Golden Days of Greece. History of ancient Greece describing everyday life as well as some of the major battles and famous people.

Coolidge, Olivia E. The Trojan War. Description of one of the greatest wars in all history.

Coolidge, Olivia E. Lives of Famous Romans. Description of twelve of the most important Romans, including Cicero, Julius Caesar, and Constantine.

Crouse, Anna  Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. An account of their lives as well as their famous duel.

Douge, Daniel Caribbean Pilgrims. An account describing the flight of Haitian refugees.

Filipovic, Zlata Zlata's Diary. A record from 1991 to 1993 that tells of her hardships living in Sarajevo during the war.

Grant, Neil  The World of Odysseus. A biography of the famous Odysseus.

Greenburg, Judith Newcomers to America. Interviews of fourteen new immigrants from such countries as Korea, Cambodia, El Salvador, and Lithuania.

Hacker, Carlotta Scientists. Stories of Rachel Carson, Diane Fossey, Mary Leakey, Margaret Mead, Chien-shiung, Wu, and other women scientists.

Hamilton, Virginia  Many Thousand Gone. Description of the many aspects of slavery from the 1600s to the 1800s that shows the courage of slaves.

Hamilton, Virginia Paul Robeson. Biography of the world famous actor and singer who lost much of his popularity when he became a champion of communism.

Hamilton, Virginia W.E.B. DuBois. Biography of the African-American leader, author, and sociologist who spent his life fighting for the rights of blacks everywhere.

Hautzig, Esther The Endless Steppe. Author’s hardships of spending five years in Siberia after her family and she were exiled from Poland during World War II.

Holliday, Laurel Children of the Dream. Description of the hardships of several African-Americans who grew up during the civil rights ear.

Honan, Linda Spend the Day in Ancient Rome. Description of the Ancient Roman culture and politics.

Jensen, Marilyn Phillis Wheatley. Biography of the first colonial slave poet.

Jiang, Ji-Li Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. Memoir that tells of the author’s realization of the truth about the Chinese communist government.

Katz, William World War II to the New Frontier. Multicultural history of the United States, discussing the experiences of minorities and women.

Keller, Helen  Teacher. Timeless story about Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy.

Kosof, Anna  Jesse Jackson. Biography of the major African-American leader and 1984 presidential candidate.

Mehta, Ved Sound-Shadows of the New World. Account of Mehta’s journey from India to the United States with all the hardships associated with his blindness tempered by his courage and his intelligence.

Meltzer, Milton Langston Hughes. Story of a leading poet of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s, who devoted his life to writing about the black experience in America. Meltzer, Milton Mark Twain. Biography with more than six-hundred illustrations that help capture the essence of one of America’s favorite authors.

Mills, Judie  John F. Kennedy. Life and political career of the thirty-fifth president.

Morey, Janet Famous Hispanic Americans. Mini-biographies with profiles and descriptions of achievements.

Morison, Samuel Eliot  One Boy's Boston. Memoirs of the author’s memories and impressions of Boston.

Nhuong, Huynh Quang  Land I Lost. Life in the central highlands of Vietnam, where the author and the villagers encounter many wild animals.

Ortiz, Victoria  Sojourner Truth: A Self-Made Woman. Biography of the northern slave who, after gaining her freedom, gave anti-slavery lectures in the United States.

Pantaeva, Irina Siberian Dream. Memoir of a courageous young woman born in communist Siberia who became a fashion model half way around the world.

Parks, Rosa Dear Mrs. Parks. Parks’s responses to real letters of young correspondents, challenging them to become a force for positive social change.

Parks, Rosa  Rosa Parks: My Story. Description of the civil rights movement and the author’s active role in it.

Pellegrino, Charles Her Name, Titanic. Story of The Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage and its discovery more than seventy years later.

Penn W. S. The Telling of the World. Legends and stories from many Native American nations that follow the path of life.

Petry, Ann  Lane Harriet Tubman. Biography of a woman who was a conductor on the Underground Railroad.

Place, Marian  Bigfoot All over the Country. Description of sightings of Sasquatch that have been reported in forty different states.

Platt, Larry Keepin' It Real. An extraordinary look inside the NBA, both the on-court pyrotechnics and off-court scandals.

Riley, Patricia Growing Up Native American. Tales of twenty-two Native Americans and their hardships today.

Scott, Elaine  Close Encounters. Description of what scientists have been able to discover about our solar system using the Hubble telescope.

Siegel, Beatrice Cory: Corazon Aquino and the Philippines. Biography of a political newcomer who ran for the office of president following her husband’s assassination.

Sparks, Beatrice Almost Lost. True story of a depressed teenage boy who discusses the events that led to his leaving home and joining a street gang.

Stuart, Jesse  The Thread That Runs So True. Personal narrative of the author’s experiences as a teacher in the mountains of Kentucky.

Suro, Robert Strangers Among Us. An examination of Latino immigration to the U.S.

Takaki, Ronald Lives of Notable Asian Americans. Lives of Asian-Americans known primarily for their writing, including Amy Tan, Dharati Mukherjee, and Laurence Yep.

Tran, Barbara Watermark. Collection of Vietnamese-American poetry and prose that focuses on the lives of people living in Vietnam.

Yolen, Jane Favorite Folktales From Around the World. Collection of 160 tales from over forty cultures, containing both classics and lesser-known tales.

Ziner, Feenie  Squanto. Biography of the Wampanoag Indian who, after living in England and Spain, returned to New England in 1619 and befriended the Pilgrims.                 

FICTION/SCIENCE FICTION

Aiken, Joan  The Wolves of Willougby Chase. Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia are left in the care of an evil governess and must escape from her and the wolves that besiege them.

Alcott, Louisa May  Little Women. In this classic adventure, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy make their transition from girlhood to womanhood.

Alexander, Lloyd The Black Cauldron. In this second book in the Prydain Chronicles, Prince Gwydion leads the quest to destroy the black cauldron.

Alexander, Lloyd  The Book of Three. Taran, an assistant pig keeper, tries to save his beloved land with the help of an assortment of companions.

Alexander, Lloyd The Castle of Llyr. Princess Eilonwy’s magical powers cause her to be sought by the most evil enchantress in the land.

Avi  The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Convicted of murder, a thirteen-year-old girl decides to reveal what really occurred aboard The Seahawk.

Beatty, John and Patricia   Who Comes to King's Mountain? Living in the South Carolina hills in 1780, a young Scottish boy must decide for himself whether to be a Loyalist or a rebel.

Bradbury, Ray  R Is for Rocket. These strange and wonderful tales of beauty and terror will transport the reader through time and space.

Bradbury, Ray Something Wicked This Way Comes. When a carnival like no other comes to town one week before Halloween, two boys discover its evil secret.

Burnford, Sheila  The Incredible Journey. Three pets suffer through hardships, hunger, and danger as they travel over two hundred miles through Canadian wilderness to make their way home.

Burton, Hester  The Rebel. Disillusioned by the French Revolution, an idealistic eighteenth-century English student searches for a new cause through which to express his love of freedom.

Christopher, John  The City of Gold and Lead. Three boys set out on a secret mission to penetrate the City of the Tripods and learn more about these strange beings that rule the earth.

Christopher, John The Pool of Fire. Will and a small group of free people plan to destroy the three great cities of the Tripods before the arrival of a space ship destined to doom the planet.

Christopher, John The White Mountains. A young boy and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods.

Cleary, Beverly Strider. In a series of diary entries, Leigh tells how he comes to terms with his parents’ divorce and acquires joint custody of an abandoned dog.

Collier, James  Jump Ship to Freedom. In the second book in the Arabus family saga, Daniel is trying to retrieve the notes that ensure his and his mother’s freedom, until he is forced into slavery in the West Indies.

Cooper, Susan  The Dark Is Rising. On his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the dark.

Cooper, Susan  Dawn of Fear. Three English children, fascinated by the war air raids, gradually become aware of true fear and horror when they seek vengeance on an opposing gang that destroys their hideaway.

Cooper Susan The Grey King. In this fourth book of The Dark Is Rising sequence, Will Stanton, visiting in Wales, is swept into a desperate quest to find the golden harp and to awaken the ancient Sleepers.

Cooper, Susan  Greenwitch. Jane’s invitation to witness the making of the Greenwich begins a series of sinister events in which she and her two brothers help the Old Ones recover the grail stolen by the Dark.

Cooper, Susan  Silver on the Tree. In this conclusion of the tale begun in Over Sea, Under Stone, Will Stanton, Bran, and the Drew children try to locate the crystal sword that alone can vanquish the strong forces of Dark.

Crew, Linda  Children of the River. Sundara flees Cambodia for the safety of Oregon, where she struggles to be a "good Cambodian girl"; nevertheless, she falls in love with a white boy.

Deuker, Carl On the Devil's Court. Joe, who has never succeeded at anything, suddenly has everything going his way, and he even makes the varsity basketball team.

Duncan, Lois  Killing Mr. Griffin. Several students kidnap their English teacher to teach him a lesson but end up doing much more.

Duncan, Lois  Locked in Time. Nore arrives at her stepmother’s Louisiana plantation to find her new family odd and an aura of evil and mystery about the place.

George, Jean  Julie of the Wolves. A young girl finds herself lost in the Alaskan wilderness and befriends a pack of wolves in order to survive.

Hahn, Mary Downing  Daphne's Book. As Jessica and Daphne collaborate on a picture book for a seventh-grade English contest, Jessica becomes aware of conditions in Daphne’s home that seem to threaten her health and safety.

Hahn, Mary Downing  Wait Till Helen Comes. Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but soon realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom.

Haldeman, Joe The Forever War. Drfted into the ranks of Earsh’s interstellar warriors, private William Mandella finds his fight against the Taurians secondary to the side-effects of faster-than-light space travel.

Hamilton, Morse Yellow School Bus Means I Love You. When Timur moves from Russia to a New England boarding school, he is very lonely and depressed until he meets a girl at a dance.

Hamilton, Virginia  House of Dies Drear. A black family tries to unravel the secret of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Hamilton, Virginia M.C. Higgins the Great. As a mud heap, the result of strip mining, creeps closer to his house in Ohio, a fifteen-year-old boy is torn between trying to get his family away and fighting for the home they love.

Hamilton, Virginia Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush. Fourteen-year-old Tree, resentful of her working mother who leaves her in charge of a retarded brother, encounters the ghost of her dead brother.

Heinlein, Robert  The Star Beast. When the family pet starts eating a variety of virtually indestructible things, including a car, the children of the family are in trouble until space voyagers arrive.

Heinlein, Robert   Starship Troopers. A recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the universe and into battle against mankind’s most frightening enemy.

Holm, Anne  North to Freedom. After escaping from an Eastern European concentration camp where he has spent most of his life, a twelve-year-old boy struggles to cope with an entirely strange world.

Holtze, Sollace Acquainted with the Night. When her cousin Caleb comes to stay with her family on a rocky Maine island, Molly must contend with her growing romantic feelings for him and with the arrival of a ghost.

Holtze, Sollace  A Circle Unbroken. Captured by a roving band of Sioux Indians and brought up as the chief’s daughter, Rachel is recaptured by her white family and finds it difficult to adjust.

Hossack, Sylvie Green Mango Magic. While living with her grandmother in a deserted valley in Hawaii, Maile makes an amazing discovery about herself.

Hunt, Irene  Up a Road Slowly. After her mother’s death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen.

Kassem, Lou Middle School Blues. A twelve-year-old girl discovers that seventh grade, despite a disastrous beginning, isn’t nearly as bad as she had thought it would be.

Konigsburg, E. L.  A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. While waiting in heaven for divine judgment to be passed on her second husband, Eleanor of Aquitain and three other people recall the events of her life.

L'Engle, Madeline  The Arm of the Starfish. A marine biology student reporting to his summer job on an island off Portugal finds himself at the center of a power struggle between his boss and another group of Americans.

L’Engle, Madeline Many Waters. The fifteen-year-old Murry twins are accidentally sent back to a strange Biblical time period during which mythical beasts roam the desert and a man named Noah is building a boat.

Lantz, Francess Lin Fade Far Away. Fifteen-year-old Sienna feels shut out from her father’s glamorous life as a famous sculptor.

Le Guin, Ursula  Farthest Shore. A young prince joins forces with a master wizard on a journey to discover a cause and remedy for the loss of magic Earthsea.

Le Guin, Ursula Tombs of Atuan. The sequel to A Wizard of Earthsea

Le Guin, Ursula A Wizard of Earthsea. A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.

Lee, Marie G. F is for Fabuloso. After Jin-Ha moves to America from Korea, she is able to adjust well, but has trouble with math, and lies to her parents about it.

Little, Kimberley Breakaway. Luke dreams of playing soccer with a father whom he has never known and learns his father’s secret.

Little, Kimberley Enchanted Runner. When Kendall’s mother dies, he travels to Acomia, an Indian village where his grandmother lives, and discovers a secret about his family.

Lowry, Lois  Number the Stars. During the German occupation of Denmark, Annemarie helps shelter a Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Markle, Sandra The Fledglings. After Kate discovers that her grandfather is a Cherokee, she decides to track him down.

Matas, Carol Daniel's Story. Daniel, his family and friends suffer through deportation by the Nazis, their experiences in a ghetto, and their experiences in Auswitz and Buchenwald.

Matas, Carol  Lisa's War. During the nazi occupation of Denmark, Lisa and other teenage Jews become involved in an underground resistance movement.

Mathis, Sharon Bell   Teacup Full of Roses. Joe’s decision to leave home is prompted by despair over his Mother’s blindness to his younger brother’s talents and his older brother’s drug addiction.

Mazer, Norma Fox  After the Rain. After discovering her grandfather is dying, fifteeen-year-old Rachel gets to know him better than ever before and finds the experience bittersweet.

McCaffrey, Anne  Dragonsinger. Pursuing her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly studies under the Masterharper, learning that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words.

McCaffrey, Anne Dragonsong. Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet’s fire lizards.

Myers, Walter Dean  The Glory Field. Five generations of an African-American family, from the capture and enslavement of the first ancestor, through the Civil War to the end of segregation, come alive.

Neufeld, John  Edgar Allen. When the Ficket family decides to adopt a little black boy, they are faced with threats, angry phone calls, a burning cross on the lawn, and an ultimatum from their oldest daughter.

Neufeld, John Lisa, Bright and Dark. Lisa is losing her mind, and only her friends can help her.

O'Dell, Scott  The Dark Canoe. A sixteen-year-old boy sails from nineteenth-century Nantucket to a remote California bay with his two older brothers.

O’Dell, Scott The Hawk That Dared Not Hunt by Day. Amid political turmoil and threats of plague, young Tom Barton helps William Tyndale publish and smuggle into England the Bible translated into English.

O’Dell, Scott The King's Fifth. While awaiting trial for murder and withholding from the king the obligtory fifth of the gold found in Cibola, Esteban recounts his adventures with a band of conquistadors.

Paterson, Katherine  Lyddie. An impoverished Vermont farm girl is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s.

Paterson, Katherine The Master Puppeteer. A thirteen-year-old boy describes the poverty and discontent of eighteenth-century Osaka and the world of puppeteers in which he lives.

Paterson, Katherine Preacher's Boy. Robbie’s father is a good, holy man, but Robbie decides to become an atheist.

Paterson, Katherine The Sign of the Chrysanthemum. Muna, an illegitimate Japanese boy, must search for his father, a samurai warrior, during the twelfth-century clan wars in Japan.

Paulsen, Gary  Canyons. Finding a skull on a camping trip in the canyons outside El Paso, Texas, Brennan becomes involved in the fate of a young Apache Indian who lived in the late 1800s.

Paulsen, Gary Hatchet. After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian must survive alone in the Canadian wilderness with only a hatchet.

Peck, Richard Lost in Cyberspace. Josh Lewis, a sixth-grader, embarks on a great adventure after his best friend, Aaron, mysteriously vanishes into cyberspace.

Peck, Richard  Princess Ashley. When popular Ashley Packard accepts Chelsea, a newcomer to Crestwood High, Chelsea doesn’t worry about her follower status until her senior year, when it becomes a problem.

Peck, Richard Voices After Midnight. Chad and Luke hear voices in an old new York City brownstone, and eventually the two are transported to the 1880s.

Pitts, Paul Racing the Sun. When twelve-year-old Brandon’s Navajo grandfather comes to live with the Rogers family, Brandon is forced to take a careful look at his Indian heritage.

Potok, Chaim  Davita's Harp. When Davita Chandal finds out how many hardships there are in America in the 1930s, she turns to the Jewish faith as a solace.

Potok, Chaim I am the Clay. An old peasant farmer and his wife are fleeing the Chinese during the Korean War when they come across a wounded boy who, they believe, has magical powers.

Pullman, Phillip  The Ruby in the Smoke. In nineteenth-century London, sixteen-year-old Sally, a recent orphan, becomes involved in a deadly search for a mysterious ruby.

Raskin, Ellen Figgs and Phantoms. This book chronicles the adventures of the unusual Figg family after they leave show business and settle in the town of Pineapple.

Raskin, Ellen  The Westing Game. The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs.

Robinson, Margaret A.  A Women of Her Tribe. Fifteen-year-old Annette, whose dead father was a Nootka Indian, travels with her English mother from their country home on Vancouver Island to the city of Victoria.

Silverberg, Robert  Far Horizons. In this collection of new stories, science fiction’s most beloved writers once again revisit the remarkable worlds they created and made famous.

Sleator, William  Interstellar Pig. Barney’s boring seaside vacation suddenly becomes more interesting when the cottage next door is occupied by three exotic neighbors.

Sleator, William Oddballs. From the creepy to the hilarious, this book of science fiction will engross readers.

Soto, Gary  A Summer Life. This collection of short stories focuses on the author’s growing up in Fresno, California.

Speare, Elizabeth  Calico Captive. In 1754, an Indian raid on her small New Hampshire town leaves Miriam a prisoner of the Indians, and she must survive a hard march.

Speare, Elizabeth The Sign of the Beaver. Left alone to guard his family’s home in eighteenth-centuiry Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.

Speare, Elizabeth The Witch of Blackbird Pond. In 1687 Connecticut, Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community.

Staples, Suzanne F. Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. Eleven-year-old Shabanu, a Pakistani, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family.

Steinbeck, John  The Red Pony. A young boy lives on his father’s California ranch, raising a sorrel colt.

Taylor, Theodore The Odyssey of Ben O'Neal. Ben and Teetoncey take to the sea, he to find his brother and she to escape a forced return to England.

Taylor, Theodore  Teetoncey. In this first novel of a trilogy, eleven-year-old Ben rescues an English girl from a shipwreck off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Taylor, Theodore Teetoncey and Ben O'Neal. In the second volume of the Teetoncey trilogy, the sole survivor of a shipwreck must search for the treasure that had been on the ship.

Taylor, Theodore Trouble with Tuck. A girl cares for her beloved, blind Labrador Retriever.

Voigt, Cynthia Dicey's Song. Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey finds that their new beginning requires love, trust, humor, and courage.

Voigt, Cynthia  Homecoming. Abandoned by their mother, four children begin a search for a home and an identity.

Walker, Paul Robert  Hoop Dreams. Two boys who live in the inner city believe that the only way that they can escape from poverty is by playing basketball and getting into the NBA.

Wells, H. G.  The Time Machine. A scientist invents a time machine and uses it to travel hundreds of thousands of years into the future where he discovers the childlike Eloi and the hideous underground Morlocks.

White, T. H.  The Once and Future King. White retells the classic story of King Arthur and Camelot.

Wojciechowska, Maia  Shadow of a Bull. Manolo Olivar has to make a decision: to follow in his famous father’s shadow and become a bullfighter or to follow his heart and become a doctor.

Wunderli, Stephen The Heartbeat of Halftime. After Wing’s football team finally starts winning, he faces the larger problem of his father’s illness.

Zindel, Paul  The Pigman. Two high school students befriend a strange old man, Mr. Pignati, and learn his strange story.

NOTES ON SUMMER READING

Use this format for recording your notes on each of the five books you read this summer.

Title:

Author:

Setting:

Major Characters: 

Plot Summary (limited to three sentences):

Theme: 

Personal Reaction/Evaluation: